Ryo Three-Quarters
by Tangent
Summary: Ranma grew up with a twin brother... Who is now a twin sister, thanks to Genma...
1. Enter Ranma and Ryo

RYO 3/4   
A Ranma 1/2 fanfict by Tangent  
Pre-reader edition  
  
DISCLAIMER: "Ranma 1/2" and all the characters therein belong to Rumiko Takahashi, Shogagukan, Kitty, and Viz Video. This is a fan fiction produced for my own enjoyment and for passing on without profit. Other characters that come into play in this fanfict may or may not be pulled from other sources (including other fanficts, R.P.G.s, manga, anime, literature, or possibly even *GASP* American comic books!). As far as I know, the character, Ryo/Ryo-chan/Ryoko, is my own idea.  
  
A WORD FROM TANGENT: Greetings and welcome to my own humble contribution to the fine works done in tribute to Rumiko Takahashi's Ranma 1/2 series. I've already read a few of the other fanficts produced by my fellow otaku (thanks largely to Lord Talon, since I'm not connected to the Internet yet as of this writing). Some good ones and some bad ones (mostly good from what I've read so far). Some so funny they bring tears of laughter to my eyes, and some so tragic that my heart aches just thinking about them. Bravo. I can only hope that you enjoy my contribution as much as I've enjoyed reading yours.  
I bring to you a tale of two brothers...or at least they started that way...  
  
CHAPTER ONE: Enter Ranma and Ryo  
  
Soun Tendo, a man in his early forties, with a strong, kind face, long black hair and a mustache, read through the morning mail. Among the various letters, packages, and postcards was a postcard that had a message for which he had been waiting for a long time. The postcard showed a scene with a panda, and turning it over, he noticed that it was post marked China. Tears started to come from his eyes as he read the message:  
  
Bringing Ranma and Ryo home.  
  
On Soun's face were tears of happiness as he said, out loud and low to himself, "They are finally coming here...How I have waited for this day."  
He decided to tell his daughters immediately.  
Soun called out, "Kasumi! Nabiki! Akane!"  
Not getting an immediate response, he went to look for them, first checking the kitchen that was his eldest daughter's domain. She was indeed there, as she seemed to nearly always be. A brief pang of sorrow revisited his heart as he thought about this last and strongest connection that she had with her mother. He collected himself. Today's news was to be joyous, not tragic, as his wife's death had been so many years ago.  
"Kasumi!" he exclaimed, happily, managing to expunge his grief.  
He then checked the bedrooms on the second floor of their family home, expecting to at least find his middle daughter there, as she had not been downstairs. As he had expected, he found Nabiki in her room, reading one of her manga books. Not that he minded. She studied and had good grades, so what she did in her spare time was her own concern.  
"Nabiki" he called out to get her attention. After a brief discussion, he went to look for his youngest daughter, Akane.  
"Now where could she be..." he wondered. "Nabiki," he asked, returning briefly to her room, "could you help me look for Akane? She is not in her room, and this really should be discussed as a family".   
Nabiki hid a small smile, "I'll find her father."  
  
  
Akane was just returning from her run, shouting "Hi! I'm  
home!" and then ran straight to the dojo, pausing only to throw off her running clothes and change into her practice uniform, as was appropriate for training in the dojo. She set up a quick array of concrete blocks and wood, then preceded to reduce said objects to rubble.  
"Ahhhh, good!" she sighed as she relaxed. Then she heard a small click. Turning around, she saw one of her older sisters, Nabiki, putting her camera away.  
"There you go again, Akane" she said as she shook her head, arms crossed in front of her. "No wonder all the boys at school think you're strange!"  
"Why should I care?" she demanded. "I'm not like you! Not everyone thinks the world revolves around boys, Nabiki!"  
"No?" Nabiki replied, placing her hands behind her head, "Then I guess what father has to say to us would be of no interest to you would it?"  
Akane turned to look at her, "What are you talking about?"  
  
With a low rumble, it began to rain lightly over the Nerima district. In the Tendo Household, Akane's voice was raised in protest. "FIANCE?!?"  
Soun Tendo looked at Akane, "Yes, the sons of a very good friend of mine. There names are Ranma and Ryo Saotome" he stated. "If one of you were to marry one of them, and carry on this dojo, then the tendo family legacy would be assured."  
Akane wasn't taking this well.  
"WAIT A MINUTE!" she shouted angrily. "Don't WE have some say in who we marry?"  
"Akane's correct, Father" Kasume interjected. "We have never even met them."   
Mr. Tendo chuckled, "Well now, that is easily fixed!"  
  
It was raining lightly as three figures wandered down the street arguing.  
"Why are we doing this?!" demanded a young man wearing Chinese style fighting clothes. He was arguing with an older man wearing an off white gi, glasses, and a bandanna. The other figure, a cute redheaded girl also wearing Chinese style fighting apparel, followed along appearing to be depressed. A few passers by noted the striking family resemblance between the boy and the girl, but declined to comment upon it at this time. All three seemed to be martial artist, and at least one of them was highly agitated. "We don't have time for fiancees! We should be looking for a cure for Ryo!"  
"Be that as it may," responded the older man tersely, "we cannot go wandering around China looking for a cure while that amazon girl is trying to kill her...er...him!" In a calmer voice, he continued. "We are going to be staying with them so that the both of you can become familiar with your prospective fiancees. No decision has been made yet as to which of you is going to marry which of them."  
"It's not fair!" cried out the girl, startling the other two. "I was the one looking forward to this! Now look at me! I can't choose any of them now, no thanks to you!" With that, she punched out at the older man, adding: "And just whose fault is it that I got into that challenge match with Xian Pu, anyway!?"  
"Is that anyway to talk to your father?" demanded the older man, blocking the strike. He had grown to expect such blows from the now moody redhead who had once been his son, and was now (for the lack of a better term) his daughter. "After the kiss of death that Shampoo gave you, our progress towards finding a cure for you became impossible in China" he continued, trying to calm his 'daughter' down. "Staying with the Tendos while we continue to search for one in Japan solves a number of problems." [Not the least of which is preventing my beloved wife, Nadoka, from finding out what I had let happen to you] he thought. While he doubted that she would force Ryo to commit seppuku, he wasn't as assured about his own prospects.  
The three continued towards their destination, each irritated but resigning themselves from further comment. At least for the time being.  
  
  
Back at the Tendo residence, Soun continued to explain the situation to his daughters. Nabiki, he noted to himself, appeared to be particularly excited about the prospect, and had even gone as far as to change into a kimono for the occasion. Kasumi, whom he suspected of harboring feelings for Dr. Tofu even if she didn't seem to be aware of it herself yet, had just come in straight from the kitchen. Akane, on the other hand, was obviously irritated over the whole affair.  
"Ranma and Ryo are returning from a long training journey with their father." Soun paused briefly to sip his tea. "Recently, it seems, they crossed into China."  
"Oooh! China!" exclaimed Nabiki, who was definitely warming up to the prospect of getting to know people who could tell her first hand what other countries were like.  
"What's so great about training in China" commented Akane sulkily. Her recent experience with the now daily fights with the boys at Furinkan High School had left her more than a little fed up with boys for the time being. While she knew that she wasn't being fair to the two boys she hadn't even met yet, she did not really care at the moment. "It doesn't mean that they are any good."  
"Are they cute?" inquired Nabiki, ignoring her sister.  
"I do hope that they are older than me" commented a worried Kasumi. "Younger men are so...young."  
"So, what are they like?" persisted Nabiki.  
Soun cleared his throught. "I have no idea," he admitted.  
"You have no idea" repeated Nabiki, glaring at her father.  
"I've never met them" he confessed.  
Just then, they heard a commotion at the door. "Aw, Pop, why can't we go home first?" complained a voice, which obviously belonged to a young man. Could it be them, Soun thought as he got up to greet his guests. Nabiki followed.  
"Oooo! It must be Ranma!" or Ryo, Nabiki thought excitedly, not realizing that she had said the first part of the thought aloud. Kasumi was happy for her sister, and relieved (although she did not just yet realize why). Akane decided that since Nabiki was so excited about this turn of events, her sister could have them...er...him.  
"I've already told you, Ranma," stated a voice belonging to an older man. "We are staying here for a while so you and Ryo can get to know my friend's daughters." It was his friend...and his sons. Soun joyously greeted them as they came in.  
"Saotome, my friend! We've been expecting you!" Soun quickly noted which of the boys had been arguing with Genma and concluded: "And you must be Ranma!" A short pause as Soun sought out the third Saotome... "And Ryo!" He gathered the two siblings into his arms for a manly embrace...and then stopped, stunned. Ranma felt normal, but Ryo...  
By this time, all three daughters had gathered to see their guests. Nabiki, noticing her father's stunned expression, leaned closer to examine the two boys. Hmmm, Ranma was as fine a specimen as she could ask for, and his brother was cute in a bishonen kind of way, but why would her father react like that? As Soun let go and took stock in the situation himself, Nabiki took a closer look. [No way!] she thought, as she spied what appeared to be an ample bosom on the shorter 'boy'. A quick prod confirmed her suspicions. Not to mention the fact that Ryo was becoming rather embarrassed to have a girl that 'he' just met poking 'him' in anatomical parts that 'he' shouldn't even have in the first place.  
"Um...could you please stop that" muttered Ryo quietly.  
"Daddy," Nabiki pointed out dryly, "'he' is a girl."  
"I see some explanations are in order," observed Genma.  
"I should say so, Saotome," commented Soun suspiciously.  
"Err...really...would you please stop playing with them" Ryo demanded in a voice only slightly louder than before.  
"Oh!" started Nabiki, who had been following the conversation and had actually lost track of what she had been doing for a moment. Not that she would ever admit it. "I'm sorry, I don't know what I could have been thinking!" Just for good measure, lest anyone get the idea that she was one to be pushed around, she squeezed once before letting go.  
"Eep!" was Ryo's startled response.  
"Nabiki!" exclaimed Akane. "What do you think you are doing!" [Honestly,] she thought [sometimes you're nearly as bad as some of the boys! And you're not even interested in girls...I think.]  
As everyone gathered around the table to hear Genma's explanation, he began:  
"It all started about three weeks ago, on Mt. Quanjing, in the Bayankala Range, Qinghai Province, China..."   
  
*** FLASHBACK ***  
  
"Here, Sirs, is legendary training ground of accursed springs, Jusenkyo," the guide said with a mix of pride and caution in his voice. He was seldom asked to lead anyone to Jusenkyo, as it was one of the more obscure tourist spots available. Personally, he felt it was some sort of bureaucratic error that the accursed springs were a tourist spot to begin with. Nearly every time he brought someone here, they managed to somehow fall into one of the springs.  
"Are you prepared, boys?" asked Genma as he set down his pack. Truth to tell, he was a little disappointed in how this was turning out. While not exactly the same setup, Jusenkyo looked very similar to something he had the boys do last year. Now where had that been? America...Australia?  
Ranma was less than impressed. "Aw...this place don't look so tough."  
"Pop," interjected Ryo, "didn't we do this last year at that actor's place in San Francisco?"Well, that settled Genma's Question. If Ryo remembered the place as San Francisco, then it had been Australia. [Hmmm...or maybe I'm confusing the place with Sidney.]  
"You very strange ones, Sirs" commented the guide, wishing he could speak Japanese more fluently. "This place very dangerous. Nobody use now." [There!] he thought [I've actually managed to start my explanation before anyone got ahead of themselves]. "Is more than one hundred springs here, and every one have own tragic legend." The guide was snapped out of his reverie by Genma's cry.  
"Ranma! Ryo! Follow me!" called out Genma as he leaped to one of the poles. The two boys jumped to poles of their own after a quick glance at each other to make sure that they didn't choose the same one again. That had been an embarrassing mistake, and their father hadn't let them live it down for weeks afterwards. The actor had been more understanding. Too bad they couldn't remember his name. Ryo had put that down as a side effect of the concussion.  
"Ah! Sirs!" the alarmed guide exclaimed. "What you doing?" [I have got to start earlier on the explanation! Well...At least they paid in advance.]  
"I won't go easy on you" cautioned Genma.  
"That's just the way we like it!" replied the twins in stereo.  
"Please, Sirs!" pleaded the guide. "It very bad you fall in spring!" Unfortunately, the three paid no attention to him.  
As usual, Genma picked one of his sons at random, and attacked. Ryo, seeing that it was Ranma's turn first this time, relaxed his stance. Ranma, for his part, met Genma in mid-air and knocked him into one of the pools. [Well, that was quick] the twins thought.  
"What's up, Pop?" asked Ranma, pleased to have got the first strike in. "We done already?"  
There was quiet. Ryo jumped to a closer pole, concerned. Which is probably why Genma mistook him for his brother as he leaped out of the spring of drowned panda, completely unaware of his change. [Well, there goes my holiday bonus] thought the guide. The giant panda knocked Ryo out of the way and took his place on the pole. Ryo, stunned by what had just happened, was caught completely unawares, and cracked his head as he landed in another pool.  
"Wha...wha...wha..." stammered Ranma.  
"That is Shonmaoniichuan!" shouted the guide, explaining what had happened. "There is very tragic legend of panda that fall in and drown two thousand year ago! You brother fall in Nyanniichuan," the guide continued as Ranma dodged the panda time and time again. "There is tragic legend, very tragic, of young girl who drown in spring one thousand five hundred year ago! Why he not come up yet I not know."  
"Well, why didn't you tell us sooner?!" demanded Ranma. [Wait...what was that? Ryo hadn't come up yet?] Ranma had heard what the guide said, but didn't think twice about jumping into the Nyanniichuan in order to save his drowning brother. A part of his mind reeled in horror at what was happening to his body, but his main concern was that his brother might be dying.  
Pulling the now female form of Ryo out of the spring, Ranma checked her vital signs. There was a pulse, but no breathing. [No!] thought Ranma, [I will not loose my brother like this! I can't!] Thanking the Kami for the CPR course that Ryo had stubbornly insisted that they take while they were traveling in America, Ranma worked desperately to get Ryo to start breathing again.  
After what felt like forever, but could only have been a few moments, Ryo started coughing. Still a bit disoriented, she looked up to see a cute redheaded girl looking down into 'his' face with a concerned expression. The eyes seemed familiar somehow, and it felt wrong that they should be looking at 'him' with such worry. Then it hit 'him'. 'His' father had turned into a giant panda and knocked him towards one of the springs, and a feeling of dread washed over her as she realized just what kind of curse this spring held. The eyes, which looked at her as if she had been on the brink of death, could only belong to one person.  
"R...Ra..Ranma?"  
  
*** END FLASHBACK ***  
  
"We had the guide take us to the Nanniichuan to cancel the effects of our curses, but Ryo, having nearly drowned in the Nyanniichuan, had apparently become immune to all other Jusenkyo curses" finished Genma. There was more to the story, but he really didn't feel like admitting that he had run from Ranma like a scared rabbit. Fortunately for his ego, Ranma apparently wasn't going to elaborate on his explanation.  
Soun, although he kept an impassive face, didn't believe a word of it. He thought it much more likely that his friend had raised his daughter as a boy in order to protect her from the possible return of the master. It was just the sort of hair brained scheme that Genma would come up with. [What had he been thinking,] thought Soun, [that he could forestall Ryo's puberty?] for puberty had obviously hit Ryo with a vengeance, if she looked like that after only three weeks. Of course, some small changes had probably occurred prior to the Jusenkyo incident, but had only been brought to light when her brother saved her life.  
That Ranma had experienced sensations that made him believe that he had become a girl was understandable. Twins, even fraternal twins, had been known to share experiences during traumatic events. Between Ryo having nearly drowned to death, and the discovery that she was actually a girl, the twins must have been very confused. Genma had obviously taken advantage of that confusion and invented the story on the spot. Just where the giant panda came into this he didn't know, but it had probably been an invention to deflect blame from himself. The twins seemed to be at least subconsciously aware of this, having assigned the role of the panda back to their father.  
The Tendo sisters had pretty much come to the same conclusion, although they couldn't figure out why the twins' father had lied to them all those years. It was unfortunate that Ranma and Ryo seemed to believe the story, but they didn't know just what to do about that yet. It was also unfortunate that Ryo was stuck with a boy's name. Maybe they could call her Ryoko...or perhaps Ryo-chan. They would have to discuss this with Ryo later.  
The Twins weren't sure that the Tendos believed them. They could hardly believe it themselves, and it had happened to them. It all sounded like any other stupid stunt their father had pulled on them over the years, and they had no way to prove it was otherwise.  
Genma, for his part, wondered why nearly everyone was glaring at him. Didn't they believe him?  
  
END CHAPTER ONE  
  
OMAKE THEATER PRESENTS: Enter Ranma and Ryo  
  
Soun and Genma sat at the table considering their dilemma. Five girls sat around the table with them, all looking rather uncomfortable.  
"Well, why didn't you just tell me that you only had daughters, Genma?"  
"I was too embarrassed to admit it after we had already arranged the marriage," confessed Genma.  
"Oh! So you felt it was better to raise us as boys, is that it!?" Complained the two redheaded girls in unison. "Do you even realize how you've ruined our lives!?!"  
  
END.  
  
NEXT CHAPTER: The Saotomes' first evening at the Tendos'. BUT I'M A GUY! 


	2. BUT I'M A GUY!

RYO 3/4   
A Ranma 1/2 fanfict by Tangent  
Pre-reader edition  
  
DISCLAIMER: "Ranma 1/2" and all the characters therein belong to Rumiko Takahashi, Shogagukan, Kitty, and Viz Video. This is a fan fiction produced for my own enjoyment and for passing on without profit. Other characters that come into play in this fanfict may or may not be pulled from other sources (including other fanficts, R.P.G.s, manga, anime, literature, or possibly even *GASP* American comic books!). As far as I know, the character, Ryo/Ryo-chan/Ryoko, is my own idea.  
  
WARNING: Mature themes are included in this chapter. While not a Lemon fanfict, certain parts of this chapter do get a little racy. Also, Ryo-chan wrestles with her inner despair in this chapter, which will be a recurring theme in this series, so at times things may get a little 'dark' as it were. I will try to balance this out with an appropriate amount of humor. You have been warned.  
  
CHAPTER TWO: BUT I'M A GUY!  
  
After Genma's explanation, The Saotomes and the Tendos separated into smaller groups. Genma stayed with Soun, trying to get his old friend to believe his story (with little success). Nabiki had nabbed Ranma, leading him off to talk about his journeys (and to find out if he really believed that his sister had been a boy up until a little over three weeks ago). Kasumi returned to the kitchen that was her sanctuary, and pondered the problem at hand. Akane decided to show Ryo the Dojo.  
"So, what do you think?" asked Akane, referring to the Dojo. She was interested in how it compared to others that the new girl had seen in her travels.  
"Seems okay, I guess" Ryo started. "Well maintained, clean..." [if you discount the remains of cinder blocks and breaking boards, that is]. "Lots of practice room. You really should tidy up before you leave it, though."  
"Um, how did y-" Akane started to ask.  
"Well it was either you or your father, and no offense meant, but you're the one who looks like she just had a workout" commented Ryo casually.  
Akane flushed, slightly embarrassed. "Well, Nabiki said that Daddy had important news, so..."  
"Hey, it's okay. I understand" Ryo consoled the obviously flustered girl. [Sheesh! I'm getting almost as bad as Ranma!] she thought. [I've got to remember that I'm not on the road with just him and Pop anymore].  
"Well, how about a little match then?" asked Akane, feeling better. "After I clean this mess up, of course."  
"Sure" responded Ryo, whose spirits lifted somewhat. After the curse happened, martial arts were one of the few things that kept her from sinking into a pit of dispair. It was one of the few things she had left of her tattered and torn self-image. "Here, let me help..."  
In short order, the Dojo was once again presentable, and the two faced off against eachother. Akane adopted a basic Kempo stance, while Ryo simply took a relaxed guard position in response. Akane, seeing that Ryo wasn't going to lead off, took the initiative with a series of punches and kicks, which Ryo either dodged or blocked. Ryo, after getting the feel of how Akane fought (even going so far as to let a few hits in past 'her' defenses in order to gauge their power), finally went on the offensive.  
Akane found herself hard pressed to defend herself from the little redheaded dynamo. In fact, she was loosing rather badly, and knew it. She signaled for a stop, conceding defeat. "You... You're pretty good," she admitted.  
"You're not half bad yourself, Akane," replied Ryo, surprising the raven-haired girl she had been sparing with. There was no arrogance in that voice, only appraisal. Akane felt much better about loosing the match.  
"Well, I'm just glad you're a girl," Akane confided.  
"Why's that?" asked Ryo, confused.  
"It's just...that I'd really hate to loose to a boy," elaborated Akane as she headed back out of the Dojo.  
"But I'm a guy, remember," retorted Ryo. "At least I was a guy, anyway," she continued, beginning to feel depressed again.  
"Doesn't count," chided Akane, not seeing how her words were hurting Ryo. "You're a girl now, and you better get used to being one." She pointed out; also not noticing that Ryo had stopped following her.  
[She's right,] thought Ryo, sinking deeper into depression. [I'm a girl now, and that's how the world sees me.] She wandered off to mull this over in the privacy of her own dark thoughts.  
  
  
Kasumi, aware that the guests would probably like to clean up before dinner (and that Akane had yet to do so herself), had drawn a bath for them. Mr. Saotome had been the first to take advantage of it, glad for a respite from the calm accusations of his friend. He had to admit it to himself (finally), that without any proof, no one other than his sons would be likely to believe him. Well, no one besides his wife, Nadoka, but he wasn't about to tell her until after a cure had been found. He valued his life too much to risk what he thought he reaction would be. [I should never have made that promise] he thought.  
Kasumi went to check up on Nabiki and Ranma, and found them up in the main guestroom. Nabiki was helping Ranma set up the room for his father and himself while they talked. He had given her a summery of their travels, but few details unless she asked for them specifically. He also had a tendency towards setting his sister's stuff out along with his father's and his own. Not that she could tell right away, but it became evident when he had started arranging their things into three separate areas.  
"Mmm... Ranma," Nabiki asked dryly, "you don't think your sister is going to sleep in the same room with you and your father do you?"  
"Ah...Oh yeah, I forgot," murmured Ranma, blushing lightly. "I still have a hard time thinking of Ryo as my sister," he explained, "I mean, even after Jusenkyo, I've never made the adjustment to the fact that he's now my 'sister'. It's still hard for me to think of him that way." He started putting Ryo's things back into one of the packs. Nabiki saw that there were very few items of female apparel among the clothing that Ranma was putting back, and they were all new in appearance. [I guess they really did believe that Ryo was a boy,] thought Nabiki (referring to the twins, not their father).  
"I can see that," commented Nabiki, "especially since you keep referring to her in the male sense."  
"It's not as if I can help it or anything," Ranma replied defensively. "Up until three weeks ago, Ryo was a guy, remember." After a short pause, he continued. "This has been very hard on Ryo. He...she...has been very depressed since the incident. Pop and I have even been afraid to let her bathe alone, although I don't really think that he...she...would really kill herself."  
"You don't mean to say that you've been bathing with her have you?" Nabiki asked in a low, dangerous tone. This was not lost on Ranma.  
"No no no! Nothing like that at all!" he explained rapidly. "We just made sure that we used the public baths while there were other people inside in case she tried anything stupid! That's all! Really!" [That was close,] thought Ranma. [Ryo's right. I've really got to learn to think before I put my foot in my mouth]. Ranma still wondered at the fact that his twin was so much more contemplative than he was. Weren't they both raised on the road? By Genma of all people?  
[Oh my!] thought Kasumi, who had listened in on the conversation for a moment. [That poor girl!] Resolving to do something to bring up Ryo's spirits later, Kasumi finally interrupted their conversation. "The bath is ready, Ranma. Your father is already in there. You've just come from a long trip, why don't you join him?"  
"Okay, fine," said Ranma, resignedly. [Like I really want to have anything to do with that baka after what he did to Ryo. Still, he is our father.] With that, he got up and headed for the bath.  
  
Nabiki was lost in contemplation. Ranma obviously really did believe that Ryo had been a boy up until three weeks ago, and it seemed likely that Ryo did as well. What Mr. Saotome had done to his daughter was beyond comprehension. No father should do that to his daughter. No father in his right mind would. Even if (as extremely unlikely as it was) their story was true, his actions were unpardonable.  
The problem at hand was that, apparently, Ryo still thought of herself as a boy. Something would have to be done about that, or there would be problems later.  
"That baka's made quite a mess of things," she commented quietly to herself (referring to Genma).  
  
Genma sneezed as Ranma joined him in the furo (Japanese style bathroom- very roomy, with a large tub set in the floor, and no toilet. That is elsewhere in the house).  
"What's up, Pop?" asked Ranma, not really caring. "You catching a cold or something?"  
"No, I don't think so" Genma replied, not catching his son's tone. [Somebody must be talking about me] he thought.  
  
Later, after Genma and Ranma were done with their bath, Kasumi went to find Ryo.  
Ryo had secluded herself on the porch, and was once again struggling between despair and her conscience. She loved her brother dearly, and what she was contemplating would hurt him grievously. Especially since he had risked his own manhood to save her life. Certainly because he had saved her life at all. No, she couldn't do this, as much as it pained her not to. She couldn't hurt her brother like this.  
"Ryo-chan," Kasumi called out, having just found her. "The bath is ready."  
Ryo twitched at the suffix, then replied. "All right. I'll head right there." She got up and went straight for the bath.  
Kasumi was about to go look for her sisters when something caught her eye. Something that told her that Ryo's problems went deeper than she had dared to fear. Ryo had left it behind when she got up to leave. [Oh my!] she thought as she rushed off to find her sisters. They needed to know this before they said or did something to push the poor girl towards concluding the act that Kasumi could only assume that she had interrupted.  
Back on the porch lay the tanto, out of its sheath and ready to use.  
  
"We've got to hurry," said Nabiki as she and Akane made their way to the bath. "Ranma had said that they were afraid to let her take a bath alone after the incident at Jusenkyo. With Kasumi finding the tanto and all, I believe that their fears are well founded." The two girls wasted little time getting undressed, starting almost before they were even completely through the changing room door. They quickly spotted that Ryo's clothing was indeed in the hamper as they tossed their own attire in to it as well. Then they entered the main bath chamber.  
Ryo hadn't gotten very far along with her bathing, having just rinsed the soap off of her body before getting up from the stool. She was just about to enter the tub for a good hot soak when Akane and Nabiki came into the room with concern written all over their faces. Ryo turned, startled, and got a very good look at their nude bodies. She promptly feinted.  
It was true that Ryo was somewhat used to the appearance of the female body after three weeks, both her own and others (thanks to the fact that her brother and father had insisted that she use the female side of the public baths). However, she had actually endeavored not to consciously look at other naked women. Sure, she had to deal with her own body, but that was just it. It was her own body, regardless of how it had changed, and she wasn't about to admit to anyone that she had been experimenting with her new sensations. She was actually somewhat ashamed of herself for doing so in the first place, and in the beginning had lied to herself about why she had done so. Being thorough while bathing had been her very first excuse to herself, but she had come up with a few others (some lamer than others in her mind).  
To actually see, directly, two very kuwai, naked ladies walk in on her, especially after just scrubbing herself down, was too much for her admittedly unbalanced psyche to take just at the moment. Feinting seemed to be the most appropriate response for her subconscious to have her perform.  
"You know, Akane," observed Nabiki dryly, "if Ryo-chan keeps reacting like this, gym class is going to be very interesting for you." She privately berated herself [Damn! I should have come in here alone with my camera. An opportunity like this is just priceless!] Then she thought some more [On the other hand, there's no way of telling how she would respond to my selling nude photos of her. I haven't actively trained in the Art for years now, and she just came back from a training journey.]  
"Well...I suppose she would be shy around girls, having been raised as a boy and all..." Akane responded, uncertainly. "But still, didn't you say that Ranma and Mr. Saotome made her use the Public baths?"  
"Yes, but apparently little Miss Saotome had tried to be a perfect gentleman about it," Nabiki guessed, amused. "It's not too hard to divert your gaze in a wide open area like that. We seem to be the first girls that she has had a very good look at." With that Nabiki started to wash herself off. Akane followed suit, and the two scrubbed one anothers' backs while waiting for Ryo to recover. They had rinsed down and had gotten into the tub by the time that she started to come around.  
"Uhh..." groaned Ryo, lightly. "Wh...what happened?"  
"Oh, Ryo baby, I see you're awake again" Nabiki quipped, turning around in the tub and placing her hands under her chin as she rested her elbows on the rim of the tub. Of course, this provided Ryo with an excellent view of her bosom, which she had also laid on the rim, between her elbows. This was deliberate, as Nabiki wanted to test this girl who had been raised as a boy for amusing reactions. She wasn't disappointed.  
Ryo blushed and diverted her gaze, embarrassed. [Is Nabiki even aware that she is doing that?]. She started to collect herself, and tried to think of something to say. She saw that Akane was in the tub with her sister, and that her expression hinted that she was concerned about Ryo, possibly for more reason than the fact that Ryo had feinted. Ryo could read the hurt in her eyes, and knew. [I was contemplating seppuku earlier, and forgot the tanto on the porch when Kasumi called me to the bath. They have no idea that I've rejected it as an option.] She felt ashamed for dishonoring her hosts in this manner, and doubly so for how they must think of her.  
Akane and Nabiki both noticed that Ryo's flushed complexion had spread down from her face, rapidly becoming a full body blush. Akane's heart went out to the poor girl. [How hard it must be for her. Raised as a boy all this time only to find out that she's been a girl all along. And that tanto! If Kasumi hadn't interrupted her, would she have really committed suicide on our porch?] She couldn't tell that the pity in her eyes pained Ryo to the core of her being.  
Nabiki merely faced the problem with the calm, almost casual, expression she had practiced so hard to maintain over the years since their mother had died. Yes, her heart went out to this lonely soul before her, but she herself barely recognized this fact, and she certainly wasn't ready to show any signs of it to herself, let alone anybody else. No, Ryo wasn't going to get any special treatment out of her. Not for any reason. At least not right at this moment.  
"Why, Ryo-chan!" Nabiki teased. "Are you really that excited to see us? You've gotten so hard!" with that, she reached out and flicked one of Ryo's erect nipples with a finger. Akane gasped at the fact that her sister would do such a thing. Ryo was shocked right out of her depression.  
"You do realize that if you keep doing that, I'm going to have to do something about it," warned Ryo.  
"What, this?" asked Nabiki, the picture of feigned innocence. "What are you going to do?" She poked Ryo in the breast again, as she had done earlier in the day.  
"THIS!" cried Ryo, as she jumped into the tub after the stunned Nabiki. A massive tickle fight between the two ensued. Akane just stared at the two in utter amazement for a moment before the 'war' escalated to include her as well. In short order, the three were giggling, laughing, and splashing around enough for the rest of the household to check up on them.  
  
"They seem to be having a tickle fight," reported Kasumi as she came back out of the changing room and into the hallway. Personally, she felt very relieved that Ryo was enjoying herself. For that matter, Soun, Genma, and Ranma were relieved as well. Kasumi had given them quit a scare when she had told them about finding the tanto that Ryo left behind. Although none of the other traditional gear had been present, it was clear to their minds that the young girl had at least been considering seppuku as an option.  
Ranma could feel his tension flowing away. [I haven't heard you laugh since Jusenkyo, Ryo. I'm glad to hear that you're still able to. We'll get through this, somehow.] Conviction set in his heart as he made an oath to himself. [Be strong, brother. I will help you get through this in any way that I can. I swear it!]  
Genma, while he was glad that his 'daughter' had at last found even a moment of happiness, worried that the curse may still be turning 'her' more feminine as time went on. [Listen to yourself, Ryo. Giggling like a schoolgirl. Who knows what'll be next? Dressing in skirts? Wearing make-up?] This, by the way, would later prove to be unusually prophetic of him. [It breaks your father's heart.]  
Soun was simply glad that his daughters seemed to have the situation well in hand. Counseling would have to be arranged for the girl, that much was now glaringly obvious, but the immediate danger was over. He already knew that his friend's daughter would end up sharing a room with one of his own daughters, but now he put some more thought into the idea. [Nabiki would probably be the wisest choice, since she's the most likely to treat her at face value. At least until she knows what to make of Ryo. And perhaps, by helping Ryo, my little Nabiki may finally be able to help herself cope with the loss of her mother in some other way besides closing herself off.] Soun was aware that his middle daughter had been becoming more and more mercenary in nature as time went by, but hadn't really known what to do about it. Nabiki had refused to open up to a counselor thus far. Now, there seemed to be at least a partial solution before him, if the two troubled girls could be put together.  
"Come," Soun beckoned, "we should head back to the other room."  
  
Back in the furo, Ryo could feel the weight of misery lift from her shoulders as the tickle fight continued. The laughter was having a cathartic effect on her troubled spirit, allowing her to finally open up. She felt happy for the first time since she had been cursed at Jusenkyo, really and truly happy. Which is why it came as a complete surprise to all three girls when she suddenly hugged Nabiki and stated sobbing uncontrollably.  
Neither Nabiki nor Akane knew what to make of it, and after a moment, settled on trying to console her. Ryo just kept crying as she released the grief in her troubled heart. Somewhere in her subconscious, all the pain she had locked up inside herself had spotted the opening and went for it. Like a bullet train.  
After a while, the grief passed, and Ryo noticed that she was hugging Nabiki. And that her own breasts were pressed firmly against Nabiki's. Blushing once again, she let go.  
"Um...sorry about that" Ryo apologized sheepishly. "I don't know what came over me."  
"It's all right," said Akane reassuringly, "You've been having a rough time of it. We understand"  
"Besides," quipped Nabiki, "I found it quite... intriguing." Which, surprisingly enough, she did. Nabiki had never thought of herself as someone who would be interested in girls before. She had always had an eye for the cute guys, and pretty much had viewed other girls as just other people. She had found Ryo's body pressed against her own to be surprisingly... pleasant. And something about the girl opening up to her had clicked with something deep inside Nabiki. Maybe...just maybe...this was someone to whom she could finally...  
"NABIKI!" accused an outraged Akane, "what do you think you're doing!?"  
"Whatever do you mean, Akane?" Nabiki asked in mock innocence. "I would've thought that you, of all people, would know. What, with you hating boys like you do." Nabiki turned her head back towards Ryo, and winked.  
"I do not hate boys! It's just that..." Akane stopped, catching herself. "Ooooh! You're making fun of me again, aren't you?"  
"Bingo!" was Nabiki's cheerful response. Ryo, unable to help herself any longer, started laughing again.  
  
Ryo was too busy thinking about what Nabiki had said and done in the furo to really pay any attention during dinner, so missed the decision to register her as 'Ryoko' Saotome.  
  
Later that night, Nabiki helped Ryo set up a futon on the floor of her room. Akane was still angry with both of them, and. Nabiki was the only one behaving as if absolutely nothing was wrong with Ryo (everyone else was walking on eggshells where Ryo was concerned, which was driving Ryo nuts). The end result was that Ryo and Nabiki were indeed paired up in the same room together. After talking with Nabiki for a bit, Ryo drifted off to sleep. She wondered what the next day would bring.  
  
END CHAPTER TWO  
  
OMAKE THEATER PRESENTS: Kasumi's Hidden Side  
(With special thanks to Lord Talon, who suggested this idea.)  
  
Kasumi looked at the Tanto that Ryo had left behind when she wandered off to the bath. [Oh my!] she thought, [something will have to be done about this!] With that thought, Kasumi gathered up the tanto and its sheath, her intent clearly in mind, and headed off.  
In her room, Kasumi lay the tanto on her bed and went to her closet. Opening it, she could see upwards of a hundred bladed weapons, along with whips, chains, and assorted leather outfits (consisting almost entirely of straps). From the closet, she pulled something, and took it to her bed.  
"This will make you all better!" She chirped happily, as she began to polish the tanto.  
  
END  
  
NEXT CHAPTER: The twins' first day at a new school. My Name is...Ryoko? 


	3. My Name is...Ryoko?

RYO 3/4   
A Ranma 1/2 fanfict by Tangent  
Pre-reader edition  
  
DISCLAIMER: "Ranma 1/2" and all the characters therein belong to Rumiko Takahashi, Shogagukan, Kitty, and Viz Video. This is a fan fiction produced for my own enjoyment and for passing on without profit. Other characters that come into play in this fanfict may or may not be pulled from other sources (including other fanficts, R.P.G.s, manga, anime, literature, or possibly even *GASP* American comic books!). As far as I know, the character, Ryo/Ryo-chan/Ryoko, is my own idea.  
  
A WORD FROM TANGENT: To those of you who have read the previous two chapters (and what good little otaku you are!) this chapter may seem unusually long. Especially since it fills about the same amount of space as the previous two combined. Perhaps I expanded things too much, or condensed things that could have been chapters in their own right. If this bothers you, I apologize for it. I may expand and separate some of the condensed sections later as a chapter 03a extension once I get more of a feel for how they might pan out once fully formed. The sections involving Dr. Tofu could have probably come across better if I had spent more time and had come up with actual conversations for them. Still...I hope you enjoy this installment.  
  
CHAPTER THREE: My Name is...Ryoko?  
  
Ryo woke to the sound of combat outside the window. Her brother and father were sparring over the Tendo koi pond, and had apparently decided not to wake her up. As irritating as she found that to be, she supposed she couldn't blame them. She had spent the night on a futon in Nabiki's room, and it was likely that they hadn't wanted to wake up one of their hosts needlessly. Still, it wouldn't do to miss morning practice. She quickly got dressed in her sparring gi and quietly left the room.  
Not that it really mattered how carefully Ryo went about in order to not disturb Nabiki's rest, for the Tendo girl was already awake and watching her while pretending to still be asleep. Ryo was an enigma to Nabiki. Yesterday, she had assumed that Mr. Saotome had brought up the girl as a boy for some bizarre reason, and that his story was ludicrous on the face of it. Now she wasn't so sure.  
Last night, as the two girls were waiting for sleep to overcome them, they had talked. Nabiki had found Ryo to be much more forthcoming about the places the Saotomes had been to and the events that had occurred during their travels than Ranma had been. Where Ranma had mostly talked about the various forms of martial arts that the Saotomes had encountered (unless dragged to another subject by Nabiki), Ryo talked about the countries they had been to and the people that they met. Nabiki had found this to be much more interesting than Ranma's preferred topic of choice, and had found herself wishing that Ryo really had been a boy. And then the conversation had taken a really interesting turn as far as she was concerned, although Ryo hadn't seemed to be aware of the implications.  
Last year, for a six-month period, the Saotomes had been back in Japan in a neighboring province. Ryo had been talking about a friend of hers named Ryoga Hibiki, whom she had met while attending an all boys school! Some careful questioning by the suddenly very interested Nabiki revealed some eye opening details that caused her to reevaluate her position on Mr. Saotome's explanation. Ryo had talked about gym class and swimming with absolutely no qualifiers explaining how no one had noticed that she was a girl. No stories about 'how Ryo's father had told her to hide her deformity' or 'how she had been excused from gym for reasons that only her father knew'. No, Ryo had talked about her locker room experiences as if she really had been a perfectly ordinary boy, and as if she had actually remembered them.  
This had been a revelation that caused Nabiki to start believing that maybe...maybe...Ryo really was a boy under a curse. She found herself hoping that this was indeed the case, and that a cure could be found. Ranma, while attractive in a purely physical sense, had been boring as a conversationalist. His interest was primarily in the Art, and was what he tended to talk about the most. Ryo, on the other hand, was exciting on the personal level as far as Nabiki was concerned. Sure, she was cute as a girl, but she was really supposed to be Ranma's brother. Ranma's identical twin brother!  
Nabiki was more than excited at the concept. [To have the body and the personality...just think of it! The perfect dream date! The ideal boyfriend!] If it was at all possible for the story to be true, and if the curse could be cured (or at the very least, brought back to the levels that the Saotomes had said that Jusenkyo curses were normally at), then she had to have him! Even if it meant having Ryo as a girl part of (or even most of) the time, she had to have him! [Oh, Kami-sama, let it be true!]  
  
After the Saotomes were done with their morning practice (which Akane had found enlightening - Ryo had apparently been holding back on her yesterday) and baths, they joined the Tendos for breakfast. Ranma wearing another set of Chinese fighting clothes, just like the set he had worn yesterday (Ranma had picked up a lot of the same outfit while in China - usually, only the color of the shirt changed from time to time), while Ryo had changed into a copy of the fighting clothes she had seen Xian Pu wearing (the Chinese amazon may be trying to kill her, but Ryo liked some of her outfits and had bought similar attire). Genma just put on another gi, seeing nothing wrong with it.  
The Tendos weren't really surprised at the lack of table manners displayed by Ranma and Genma, as the Saotomes had spent so much time on the road (where Ryo had picked up table manners was anybody's guess - basically, she just copied the manners demonstrated by the Tendos). They were, however, startled by the intensity of their activity at the table. Ranma and Genma would fight over pieces of food, steal food from each other's plates, and generally shout at one another. The only time Ryo got into the act was when Genma had tried to steal some food off of her plate (the vicious backhand that he received to his face temporarily stunned Genma into behaving himself - and Ryo hadn't even been looking!)  
"Remember, Ryo-chan," Akane started, "you're going to be going to school as 'Ryoko' now. It wouldn't do for you to be using a boy's name."  
"Even though I am a boy?" asked a somewhat irked Ryo (who was still half-asleep from having stayed up talking with Nabiki last night). "And when was this decided?"   
"No, you're a girl now, remember," Akane pointed out. "And we decided yesterday, over dinner."  
"Oh yeah...I forgot," responded Ryo, who had suddenly become depressed again.  
"Hey, Ryo-baby, cheer up!" Nabiki chided, silently cursing her sister's thoughtless comments. [She and Ranma deserve eachother.] "I bet Furinkan High will be a whole new experience for you! Not like that all boys school that you and Ranma went to last year." The comment was worth it for Akane's reaction alone. The youngest Tendo had practically choked once she heard that!  
"B...boy's school!?" Akane sputtered.  
"Didn't they tell you, Akane?" inquired Nabiki with a tone of mock innocence. "Ranma and Ryo went to an all boys school last year."  
"Yeah...mmph, gulp...that's right," responded Ranma between mouthfuls. Genma just nodded, and Ryo looked like she had just caught on to what was happening. Soun paid close attention to what happened next.  
"How did she attend a boy's school!?" asked Akane, suddenly dreading the response she just knew she was going to get.  
"Well, she was a boy at the time," explained Genma, who had suddenly found the proof he needed for his friend to believe him. "I can even get a copy of their school records to show you," he continued, talking to Soun excitedly. "Last year, Ryo was just as much of a man as Ranma is! Their school photos and medical records will prove it!"  
"RYO, YOU HENTAI!" Shouted an outraged Akane, knocking out the specified Saotome with her patented 'Mallet O Doom' (tm). "You saw us in the nude, you lech," she ranted, ignoring the fact that Ryo was no longer capable of hearing her.  
"Jeeze, Akane, don't hurt her too much," protested Nabiki. "I'd like to get to know her better, especially if a cure could be found. You may be pounding on your future brother in law."  
Akane stopped, startled by what Nabiki had just said, thought about it for a moment...and sat back down, stunned into submission.  
Soun thought about this turn of events. [For Nabiki to open up like this...Ryo must have really impressed her. Oh, for the day that my little girl will finally come back to herself! Can it really be this close?] "I'll approve your engagement to Ryo, Nabiki, but only after I see these records. It wouldn't do for you to end up engaged to someone who was really a girl after all."  
"DAD!" exclaimed Akane in a mix of shock and confusion.  
"Why, thank you, Daddy," said Nabiki, surprised that her father had jumped for the chance of engaging her to Ryo, but pleased that she wouldn't be expected to follow through if Ryo really had been a girl all this time. After all, a curse might be cured (or at least brought under manageable control), but she didn't think that she could live with a purely lesbian relationship. In the mean time, there was much teasing potential inherent in the situation, which promised to be fun. "I'll be sure to let 'Princess Charming' know as soon as she recovers."  
"Na...Nabiki?" stammered Akane, who was approaching her shock limit.  
"Very well then. It looks as if Nabiki and Ryo may be getting engaged soon, but still..." mused Mr. Tendo, "Since we don't know how long the search for a cure may take, I insist that Ranma become engaged to one of my other daughters in order to secure the future of this dojo! Akane would seem the wisest choice." [After all, Kasumi may end up getting engaged to Dr. Tofu.]  
"WHAT?" this time from both Akane and Ranma, neither of them liking the idea of being forced into this. "Whatever happened to getting to know them first?" they demanded, still in unison.  
"All right then, Tendo, it's settled! Ranma and Akane are engaged now, and Ryo and Nabiki as soon as you see the records," Genma announced, happily.  
"ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO US!?!" Ranma and Akane shouted at their fathers.  
"I'm so happy for you!" exclaimed a teary eyed Kasumi to her two sisters. Akane and Ranma facefaulted. "This is all so romantic, just like something out of a fairytale!"  
"Is she for real?" inquired Ranma weakly. Akane just nodded.  
"Well, if that's the case," began Nabiki, "then maybe this'll work." With that, she went over to Ryo's prone form, and kissed the redheaded girl full on the lips. Akane was speechless. Ranma was stunned. The two fathers and Kasumi were happy. And Ryo woke up (but was still a girl).  
"Mmph...wh...wow" murmured Ryo, finding herself being kissed passionately by Nabiki. "What's going on?"  
  
The walk to school was unusual to say the least. Ranma was walking along the top of the fence, with 'Ryoko' following along behind him. They were keeping pace with Akane and Nabiki, who were walking on the sidewalk like normal people. Neither Tendo would admit how impressed they were with this casual feat of balance (Akane because she was still angry - Nabiki because she didn't want to appear to be caught off guard by what was obviously second nature to the two Saotomes). In fact, Ranma and Akane were still complaining about their fathers' decision to engage them earlier, completely ignoring the difference in altitude between them. It wasn't that they didn't like eachother. It was that they didn't know eachother well enough to tell whether they did or not. Only Ryo-chan had talked to both Tendo girls, and only Nabiki had talked with both of the Saotome twins. Akane and Ranma had yet to really try to talk to eachother, although they had found themselves in complete agreement about their predicament. Neither of them wanted to be forced into any such arrangement before they were ready for it.  
Unfortunately, they were taking it out on eachother in the form of verbal abuse.  
"Like I really want to get engaged to some tomboy," muttered Ranma. Actually, he thought she was kind of cute, even if her hair was too long for his own taste. Also, according to his 'sister', she had a lot of potential in the Art, and was actively interested in realizing that potential. He was just still irritated with his father, and she (being the focus of Genma's latest 'stupid idea') made a convenient target.  
This, of course, set Akane off, and she was about to start yelling at him again when Ryo-chan beat her to the punch. Almost literally, in fact, as she had bopped him in the back of the head. Akane paused, nonplused.  
"OW! What'd you do that for?" demanded Ranma, rubbing the back of his head.  
"Because you two have been sniping at eachother ever since we left for school, and we're almost there," replied Ryo-chan dryly, imitating the tone often used by Nabiki. "Besides, it's not eachother you should be mad at. It was..."  
"It was you getting engaged to my sister while you're still a girl, you hentai!" Akane interrupted angrily. "You just couldn't wait until you were a boy again, could you?"  
"Yeah," Ranma agreed, "we were supposed to have some time to get to know them first, but you just had to jump the gun, didn't you?"  
"It's not like that at all," pointed out Ryo-chan under her breath. She had been unconscious at the time, so was a little unclear as to how this had actually happened. Apparently, it was Nabiki who started this by deciding to become engaged to her for some reason. Ryo-chan didn't know what to make of this, but had decided not to voice any objections yet. For one thing, she already liked Nabiki (who had refused to treat her as an emotional invalid when everyone else had panicked about her having contemplated suicide), and wanted to see how things went before trying to change the situation one way or the other.  
"Well," Nabiki interjected cheerfully, "it's time for me to run ahead! I'd suggest that you two do the same, or you'll get caught in Akane's 'fan club'." So saying, she trotted off ahead, through the school gates. She slipped through the crowd of gathering boys before realizing that she had done so alone. Looking back, she saw that the twins had stopped, perplexed. [Maybe we should have told them about this. Oh well, it's early enough that they wont be late if they watch.] She went off to join her friends.  
"Ooooh! Don't they ever get tired of this!?" complained Akane, who started rushing the crowed. "I hate boys, hate boys, hate boys! I really, really, really hate BOYS!" With that heartfelt (and, at the moment, accurate) mantra, she started fighting the whole group at once. The twins just watched, seeing that she could handle herself, and wondered why all of her opponents were declaring their love before trying to hit her. For one thing, as socially inexperienced as they both were, even they saw something wrong with that situation. Besides, shouting their supposed affection for the obviously irate girl was just letting her know where the next attack was coming from. As it was, she had clobbered the entire group in short order without ever taking even a single hit to her own person.  
"Honestly," muttered Akane, catching her breath, "you'd think they would all know better by now." She felt better now, having worked off her anger for the moment. She even had a reason to be happy this time. [They let me fight on my own! They're both so much better than I am, and they let me fight on my own! They don't think I'm weak or anything! I'm so happy!] Unfortunately, her mood was broken when she sensed an attack from the corner of her vision. It was thrown like a weapon, and she caught it with practiced ease, but it turned out to be a red rose. [Ugh! Kuno!]  
The twins approached Akane, choosing to ignore the overly dramatic individual who was spouting badly quoted poetry (Ranma thought it was a poor attempt at samurai epic dialogue, while Ryo-chan could have sworn that it was actually horribly mangled Shakespeare). Kuno, for his part, hadn't really noticed them yet, having eyes only for Akane. This would change soon.  
"Man, you sure are popular with the guys!" commented Ranma as he drew alongside Akane.  
"Yeah," agreed Ryo-chan, impressed. "Does this happen every morning?"  
"Yes, it does," confirmed Akane in a resigned tone, "and I'm getting really tired of it."  
"How did it..." began a concerned Ranma, before Kuno interrupted him (having finally noticed that no one was paying any attention to him).  
"Hold!" demanded Kuno, arrogantly. "Who are you, to be so familiar with the fair Akane Tendo?" He ignored the redheaded girl as irrelevant for the moment (this would also change soon), choosing to address his potential rival instead.  
"I'm Ra..." began Ranma confidently, before being interrupted again by Kuno.  
"Wait, is it not the custom to give one's own name first? Fine then, mine I will give. It is I, the rising star of the kendo club, often called the 'Blue Thunder' of Furinken High, who stands before you. Tatewaki Kuno, age seventeen."  
  
"Did he just call himself 'Blue Thunder'?" inquired one of Nabiki's friends.  
"First I've heard of it," commented Nabiki in her usual dry manner.  
"Last I heard," started another of her friends, "he was still calling himself 'The Shooting of the Stars'."  
  
"I'm...ah...er...staying at the Tendo's!" blurted Ranma, flustered at Kuno's interruption to the point of having lost his concentration for the moment.  
"Staying under the same roof as Akane Tendo?!" Kuno cried, incredulous. "I'll not have it!" so saying, he rushed forward to attack Ranma with his boken. Ranma dodged up and back in a back flip.  
"I'm Ranma Saotome, of the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts," he stated with the confidence returning to his voice. Kuno's attack had placed him back in familiar territory, and he could feel the adrenaline flowing once again. He was going to enjoy this! "Here, hold my bag for a sec'," he said, tossing the bag towards Akane and Ryo-chan before he touched the ground once more (Akane caught it). "I accept your challenge!" The two opponents rushed to attack eachother, only to be stopped by Ryo-chan. She stiff-armed Kuno in the gut, and followed up with a backhanded blow to her brother's face (with the same arm). Kuno was floored, instantly winded, and Ranma was stunned.  
"Fight after school!" shouted an annoyed Ryo-chan. "You're making us late!" With that, she took her brother's arm and dragged him off towards the entrance of the school.  
Kuno took a moment to recover before getting up. [She is formidable! Who is she?] He gazed after her as she dragged his protesting rival away. He readily admitted to himself (for now) that this Ranma Saotome seemed to be a skilled opponent, but the girl had stopped the fight easily. True, she had effectively blind-sided both combatants, but she was obviously very skilled. He had to learn who she was.  
Ryo-chan would come to regret having interrupted the duel later, but for now she was oblivious to having earned Kuno's attention. As it was, she was more concerned at the moment about making a good impression by arriving on time for their first day at a new school. She had already figured that it was bad enough that neither of them had proper school uniforms yet, but that could be excused due to the rush in which they were registered. Being late was another matter entirely, and she wasn't about to let her brother start them off on the wrong foot.  
  
Once in his classroom, Kuno pondered at his newfound obsession, the pigtailed girl. She was a fiery beauty who had suddenly taken place alongside Akane Tendo in his heart, but he didn't know who she was. She seemed to know both Akane and this Ranma person, whom he remembered as having said that he was staying at the Tendo's (Oh yeah, he remembered that all right). Perhaps, if he asked Nabiki Tendo, answers would be forthcoming.  
"The pigtailed girl?" asked Nabiki, responding to Kuno's query. "Short, with red hair? Looks kind of like Ranma?" Kuno nodded, although he hadn't noticed this before (in the back of his mind, Ranma was switched from 'Wretched Churl' to 'Dashing Rouge', lest he besmirch the image of his new goddess by the comparison - of course, this made him more of a threat to his perceived relationship with Akane). Nabiki, seeing the nod, continued. "She's Ryoko Saotome, Ranma's twin sister." (Definitely 'Dashing Rouge'). "They are staying with us because our fathers have arranged for our families to be joined." Kuno was suddenly very concerned!  
"By joined, you mean..." he prompted.  
"I'm to be engaged to Ranma's brother, Ryo," stated Nabiki, not lying, but not elaborating on the curse either. Kuno was relieved. "But since it may be awhile before he's available, our fathers have decided to engage Akane and Ranma, just in case." The hammer fell.  
"WHAT!?!" shouted Kuno, shocked.  
"Kuno!" reprimanded the teacher, who had just thrown a piece of chalk at Kuno, hitting him in the forehead. "Go stand in the hall!"  
"Yes, Sensei," muttered the suddenly crestfallen Kuno.  
  
Over in the twin's new classroom, things were going fairly smoothly. They had been introduced to the class as just having returned from an extensive training journey, and had been made welcome. Seeing that they were staying at the Tendo's, the teacher assigned them seats near Akane, Ranma beside Akane, and 'Ryoko' in front of her (so the two girls wouldn't try to gossip during class - Akane was usually good about such things, but the new girl's habits weren't known yet). Ranma's expression ranged between confused and bored, sometimes at the same time. These expressions would follow him throughout the school day, with only a few exceptions.  
Ryo-chan, on the other hand, was properly attentive, even if she had this disconcerting habit of sitting on her chair with her legs crossed Indian style and with her hands usually resting on her ankles. She was more comfortable sitting for long periods of time in this manner, and had automatically adopted the position. The teacher discretely informed her that it would be inappropriate for her to do that while wearing any sort of skirt or dress, such as the school uniform (earning him a blank look from Ryo-chan).  
Class was really starting to get underway (Ranma was particularly confused, and Ryo-chan was taking notes), when Kuno burst into the room.  
"Saotome, you fiend!" challenged the outraged kendoist, waving his boken at Ranma as he approached. "How dare you engage the beauteous Akane Tend..." WHAM!  
"Sop disrupting the class!" demanded Ryo-chan, placing her desk back on the floor before her. Although she didn't know it, her action just then had stopped what would have been an instant mini-riot (as the girls wanted to know all about the engagement, and the boys wanted to shout at Ranma). No one wanted to get on the bad side of the girl who floored Kuno twice (within the same hour, let alone the same day)!  
Ranma was more than a little surprised. Before the Jusenkyo curse, Ryo had never been this temperamental about school. Sure, his brother had never liked disruptions in their admittedly limited formal education, but he hadn't been so violent about them before. Since the curse, his 'sister' had been very moody, mostly oscillating between anger and depression until yesterday. Since her laughter the day before, Ranma thought Ryo-chan had started to return to the calm, composed person she generally had been before. He could see now that this was far from the case. His 'sister's' inner turmoil had just sublimated itself, and was apparently lurking about, ready to strike without warning at any time. This was not a comforting thought.  
Kuno was dragged off to the school nurse, where he was later informed that his little stunt had earned him detention after school that day.  
  
The rest of the school day went by pretty smoothly for Ranma, except for gym and lunch, during which he was pestered by boys who were either demanding to know how he had gotten engaged to Akane, or wanted to ask his sister out on a date. [Oh, Ryo-chan is just going to love that!] He told them that the engagement was their father's decision and that, no, his 'sister' wasn't interested in dating guys at the moment. But they could ask her if they felt like getting hit. They declined, having at least heard about her feats with Kuno earlier (some of them were just waiting to get up the nerve to risk it - after all, Akane had a temper too!). Others weren't sure whether Ranma meant hit by Ryoko or by him (or possibly both), but decided not to ask.  
  
Ryo-chan experienced a more mixed day of it. Most of the classes were at least interesting, and some of them were even captivating. She had even started making friends (she found it intriguing to make female friends without it being assumed that she was trying to ask them out on a date). She had two low points, however, one concerning gym class and the other involving Home Economics.  
Gym itself hadn't been so bad (it had been running and stretching today), but the locker room had been very unnerving both times (she was certain that Akane would clobber her again at any moment). The gym teacher thought the new girl to be unusually shy in the locker room, especially for someone who didn't wear a bra. Ryo-chan had given her a blank look when she asked why the girl didn't wear a sports bra (she later found out that Ryoko had apparently been raised on the road as a boy, and only had a vague idea as to what a bra was, let alone how to wear one). Cleaning up afterwards had been even more nerve-wracking than getting changed before gym. Ryo-chan had carefully avoided looking directly at anyone, stepped into the shower area, and promptly feinted.  
If Ryo-chan was having any thought about assigning the locker room the honor of being the worst part of her first day at Furinken High, it was quickly dispelled by what had happened in Home Economics. Today the class had been working on knitting projects. Ryo-chan had to be shown what to do, having never knitted before, and was willing to give it a shot. Unfortunately, she was proving to be exceptionally inept at it. No, scratch that, she was extraordinarily inept at knitting. As in not being able to go five minutes without having to ask someone to cut her fingers loose from her project. And she tried so hard too!  
She was determined to master this new skill, but no matter how carefully she tried, she kept getting entangled so badly in her project that someone had to cut her loose. She had even managed to tie herself up completely after a particularly rigorous attempt. By the end of class, the poor girl was in tears. Not one of her projects had survived, and she couldn't understand how she could be so bad at it.  
Akane actually felt sorry for Ryo-chan, and decided to forgive her for yesterday [After all, she had insisted that she had been a guy under a curse all along. It's not her fault that we refused to believe her]. Of course, part of the reason that Akane was so willing to forgive Ryo-chan may have been that the girl had just demonstrated that she was actually worse than Akane at something...much worse. Although Akane would be the first to admit that she wasn't very good at knitting (the off-center neck, and the different length arms on the sweater she was making showed that), Ryo-chan's lack of any talent at all for knitting was truly abysmal.  
  
Akane, Nabiki, and the twins met up after school and headed out to shop (for school uniforms mostly, but they could browse for other stuff while waiting for their scheduled physicals later). Ryo-chan was still upset about her experience with knitting.  
"How could hands which are so deft at sewing be so bad at knitting" she sniffled.  
"Ryo-chan," pointed out Ranma, "you can't sew, either."  
"I can so!" she retorted. "Nice, neat, sturdy stitches too!"  
"That just happen to include unrelated items? Such as a table cloth? Or your pant leg?"  
"Those were just flukes!"  
"But you do something like that every single time!"  
"Do not!"  
"Yes, you do! Why do you think pop had me take over the repair work for our clothing while we traveled?"  
"I thought it was because we divided the chores," Ryo-chan said in a small, weak voice.  
"No, it wasn't," confirmed Ranma, tiredly. And then he stopped. Ryo-chan was sniffling again [Oh no! Me and my big mouth! I know she's not stable right now and I go and upset her anyway!]  
"WAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!! I'm no good at anything!" Ryo-chan sobbed. "You hate me! You all hate me! WAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!"  
Ranma and the Tendo sisters spent the next several minutes dissuading her of that notion!  
  
The shopping went surprisingly well. While neither Saotome was happy about having to get school uniforms (Ranma because he hadn't liked wearing a uniform last year, and didn't expect to this year either - Ryo-chan because she had to wear a girl's uniform, which included a skirt), they had gotten them without making a fuss about it. They even picked up some extra day to day apparel. The only real difficulty had come when Ryo-chan had tried to get some of those sports bras her gym teacher had mentioned. For one thing, she didn't know her cup size, which turned out to be embarrassing when the sales lady asked her. For another thing, she couldn't figure out how she was supposed to get the stupid things on.  
It was at one point, while trying to attach the strap behind her back while trying on one of the ensembles she was thinking about getting, that Ryo-chan lost her balance. She fell through the changing room curtain wearing only the plain panties she preferred as the sports bra snapped across the room, landing on some poor guy's head (he was promptly attacked by his girlfriend for being a hentai). Ranma averted his gaze, while Akane stared. Nabiki thought it was funny, even if her sister didn't.  
"You know, Ryo-chan," Nabiki quipped, "you shouldn't give away free peeks like that."  
"That's right," put in Akane. "What will people think?"  
"Um...sorry about this," Ryo-chan apologized meekly, very embarrassed.  
"Yeah, you should charge money first." Nabiki teased, causing the Saotome twins to facefault.  
"NABIKI!" Shouted Akane, outraged at her sister's jibe, and oblivious to the attention she was attracting to their situation. After hearing a few thuds, they looked around to see several onlookers, among which were some boys who had passed out from hormonal overload.  
"Eeep!" exclaimed the now extremely embarrassed Ryo-chan, who dashed back into the changing room.  
  
While the group shopped, Soun and Genma stopped in at Dr. Tofu's clinic. They had indeed gone to check out the twins' school and medical records while they were in school, and had decided to get authorized copies to show Dr. Tofu. Soun had thought it would be a good idea for the doctor to know about the curse on the off chance that he might know of a cure. Besides, having raised three daughters by himself, Soun knew what a physical entailed for a girl, and had wanted to prevent a violent misunderstanding on Ryo's part. Especially since Ryo had been a girl for nearly a month now.  
Dr. Tofu had taken this at face value, deciding to check out the situation himself. Living and working in Nerima had exposed him to many strange things over the years, including a few cursed or magically inclined individuals, so the story didn't seem so outrageous to him. It might be true and it might not, but since the father was asking about a cure, it was probably the former. He did advise Genma that corrective surgery was expensive, and not likely to have any lasting effect anyway if this was indeed a curse. In fact, because of that, any medical means of changing the girl back into a boy was likely to cause more harm than good if they couldn't take the mystic element into account.  
Genma had been disappointed about that, but gave his permission for the doctor to take charge of the case, explaining the promise that he had made to his wife, Nadoka. He had promised to raise the boys to be men among men, and was afraid that she would force him to commit seppuku should she find out about the curse before a cure was found. Soun and Dr. Tofu were both shocked at that bit of nonsense (although Soun thought he should have expected as much from his longtime friend - wise decisions were not Genma's strong suit). Both the doctor and Soun advised him that Nadoka should be notified. She had been kept away from her children for far too long already, thanks to their prolonged training journey. But they agreed to hold off for a short while, so they could try to figure out a way to break the news without anyone having to die.  
Soun left the clinic alone and returned home. Genma was making arrangements to work as an assistant to Dr. Tofu in order to help defray the costs of his staying on as the Tendo's guest with his sons. Soun had seen the look of determination in his friend's face before, even if only rarely. His friend wasn't ready to run yet. He would pull through somehow, if only for the sake of his family.  
  
After discussing the arrangements with Dr. Tofu, Genma excused himself and went for a walk. After all the years of filling his sons' heads with macho nonsense about how real men behaved, he found it hard to be honest with himself if anyone else was around. He would have to discuss this with his friend later (Soun had warned him years ago that this would happen, but he hadn't believed it at the time), but for now he needed some time to himself.  
Genma thought furiously. If he couldn't figure out a way to explain the situation to his wife within the next month or so, he would probably have to leave again. This time without his sons, for he agreed that they had been kept from their mother too long. If only he had come home with them sooner! He had the chance to do so last year, but had decided to polish the edges of their training instead. [Curse me for a fool! Nadoka, I miss you so much it hurts, especially since I had been so close to bringing the boys home. I feel that I have failed you and our children. Especially Ryo...most especially Ryo!]  
  
The shopping party decided to stop for a snack after sending their purchases on ahead via delivery service. The twins' appointments were soon, but they still had some time to kill. An ice-cream parlor seemed to be just the thing. As they waited for their orders, they began to talk.  
"So," started Ranma, "What's the deal with the boys that attacked you this morning?"  
"Yeah...and why were they all declaring their love for you?" asked Ryo-chan, wanting to know.  
"Kuno made this stupid announcement last year, and now my little sister has to put up with a bunch of guys who are trying to beat her up so that they can go on a date with her," explained Nabiki.  
"What? You can't be serious!" exclaimed Ryo-chan in disbelief.  
"What could he have possibly have said to make that happen?" asked Ranma. So Akane told them about how, unable to get a date with her, Kuno had made this stupid speech before the whole school stating that no one could go out with her unless they could defeat her in combat. Those few boys who had ignored his stipulation were soundly thrashed by Kuno when he later found out their advances. Ever since then, no boy had tried to ask her out without trying to beat her up first. By mutual agreement among them, they attacked as a group so that they would have witnesses that they had held to Kuno's requirements.  
"That jerk!" snapped Ranma.  
"Doesn't he care about what you have to say about this?" asked a concerned Ryo-chan.  
"I'll mop the floor with him! That's just wrong!" continued Ranma, obviously irate.  
"Please, don't put yourselves out for my account," said Akane, who was surprised at the twins' empathetic reaction.  
"Oh, it wont be any trouble," growled Ranma. "It's jerks like him that give guys a bad name! For what he put you through, I'd gladly put him through the wringer!"  
"I agree," Ryo-chan put in angrily. "He should have to account for his actions!"  
"But I beat them every morning," Akane pointed out. "Kuno included."  
"You shouldn't have to!" countered Ranma.  
"No wonder you hate boys so much." Ryo-chan commented sadly.  
"I don't, really," corrected Akane morosely. "It's just that they are either always trying to beat me up, or are too afraid of Kuno to ask me out."  
"Then allow me the honor, Akane," Ranma said, calming down. "I know neither of us are happy to be forced into this engagement, but I would like to get to know you better. I have to warn you though; I can be a little thoughtless and insensitive at times. Just ask Ryo-chan."  
"You got that right," his 'sister' agreed dryly.  
"I...I don't know what to say..." Akane stammered, not knowing whether to be shocked or pleased.  
"Then don't say anything," said Ranma gently. "Just think about it. It's not like we don't have time."  
"Wow," Ryo-chan wondered at her brother. "That was halfway romantic. What brought that on?"  
"I'd say more than halfway," pointed out Nabiki, surprised. She hadn't thought the boy had had it in him, nor had she expected her sister to be responding to it. But then, unlike Kuno, what Ranma had said had the ring of sincerity in it. He didn't want Akane's body, nor did he want her devotion. He just wanted a chance to get to know her better.  
"I think he likes her!" said Ryo-chan, grinning from ear to ear.  
"I...err...ah...Shut up and eat your ice-cream!" stammered Ranma who was blushing furiously, and was grateful at the arrival of their orders. Akane was blushing as well, which was not lost on Nabiki. Ryoko just smiled, took a bight of her ice-cream...and froze.  
[This... this...is...Delicious! Wonderful! Fantastic!] Ryo-chan was in a kind of shock. While she had had ice-cream before, it had been back when she was a guy. She hadn't realized how much better some things would taste as a girl. She entered a kind of blank euphoria as she finished her ice-cream. Then she finished Ranma's. She probably would have continued on to Akane's and Nabiki's, but Ranma smacked her on the back of her head, bringing her back to her senses. "Oh...sorry..."  
  
Once they were done with their ice-cream, the group headed for Dr. Tofu's clinic for the twins' physicals. They were a bit surprised to learn that he already knew about Ryo-chan's curse, but they supposed that it did make sense for their fathers to tell him (which the twins maintained was what made it all the more surprising - Genma had rarely demonstrated good sense when they could see it). Dr. Tofu took the opportunity to go over the events of the day with them since they were here as a group. This gives the doctor something to think about.  
During Ranma's physical, Dr. Tofu carefully inquires about what Ryo was like before and after the curse. Ranma tells him about the calm and collected person Ryo used to be, and about the troubled and moody spirit his brother has become. He is particularly alarmed to hear Ranma confirm what Mr. Tendo told him about Kasumi finding the tanto (Genma had thus far refused to acknowledge the incident), and resolves to talk to Akane and Nabiki as well.  
After Ranma's physical, Dr. Tofu set Ryo-chan to waiting as he took Akane and Nabiki aside to get their part of what happened yesterday evening. He was somewhat heartened to hear about Ryo-chan's behavior in the furo, for laughter and tears had a cathartic effect that probably relieved some of the emotional turmoil that had been brewing for nearly a month now. Before he returned to his patient (who, unlike Ranma, actually was patient...usually), he warned them that Ryo might be experiencing even more massive mood shifts as she fully entered her period for the first time. For Ryo was definitely showing signs that indicated that PMS was already under way. Either that or the effects of the trauma caused by nearly drowning and becoming a girl were still manifesting. Or quite possibly both.  
Returning to Ryo-chan, Dr. Tofu takes great care to fully explain each part of the physical, and why a girl's physical is done the way it is. Thus, Ryo-chan is only extremely embarrassed by the mammary and gynecological exams, instead of outraged by them. At other times during the physical, Dr. Tofu casually interrogated Ryo-chan about how she was coping with her changes. While a bit surprised to hear her readily admit to having considered Seppuku without his having to carefully lead the conversation to the subject, he is glad that she acknowledges having done so. It makes it easier for him to suggest for her to start visiting a psychiatrist. He recommends a good one he knows, and asks for Ryo-chan's permission for the two to exchange information.  
Ryo-chan agrees, seeing the sense of it, but isn't particularly happy about it either. While the day wasn't a complete bust, she had been acting weird, and having an appointment to see a shrink wasn't helping her self image any. [My life is hell.]  
How little she knew what the next day would bring.  
  
END CHAPTER THREE  
  
OMAKE THEATER PRESENTS: Wild Yarn!  
  
In Home Economics class, the students are presenting their knitting projects to the teacher. She goes over the various shawls, scarves, and sweaters (even Akane's mutant sweater with the third arm), noting how well each of the girls did. Then she realizes that someone is missing.  
"Where is Ryoko?" inquires the teacher, almost dreading the response she was likely to get. The girls just look to the back corner of the classroom. There, suspended between the floor and ceiling amidst a crazy web of tangled yarn, is what appears to be a yarn cocoon. From this cocoon, an occasional appendage can be seen sticking out.  
"Somebody...help...please?" pleads Ryoko, muted by her woolly prison. "I...can't...get...out!" The class collectively sweatdrops, then each girl pulls out a pair of scissors...  
  
END  
  
NEXT CHAPTER: Kuno declares his intentions for Ryoko. My Life is Hell 


	4. My Life is Hell

RYO 3/4   
A Ranma 1/2 fanfict by Tangent  
  
DISCLAIMER: "Ranma 1/2" and all the characters therein belong to Rumiko Takahashi, Shogagukan, Kitty, and Viz Video. This is a fan fiction produced for my own enjoyment and for passing on without profit. Other characters that come into play in this fanfict may or may not be pulled from other sources (including other fanficts, R.P.G.s, manga, anime, literature, or possibly even *GASP* American comic books!). As far as I know, the character, Ryo/Ryo-chan/Ryoko, is my own idea.  
  
A WORD FROM TANGENT: Lord Talon has informed me that I cannot have my stories posted in their original document form (WAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!). Since my computer translates documents straight to 'Notepad', I will continue writing these stories with Word 97 and copy them into 'Notepad' for general posting. Anyone interested enough to want to see my stories in their original format may try to contact me once I'm on the net (I use Tempus Sans ITC in bold for headers and chapter titles, and Times New Roman for general text). Or you could try to 'Save As Document' I suppose...  
  
CHAPTER FOUR: My Life is Hell  
  
Ryo-chan was having a bad day. It started in the morning when she woke up from a really disturbing dream to discover that she had become 'moist' in the nether regions. She looked over at Nabiki and suppressed a shudder. Ryo-chan didn't usually remember her dreams, but this one left fragments wandering around her conscious mind before fading away. She vaguely recalled having sex in the dream (not at all unusual for a teenage male to dream about), and seemed to remember enjoying it. Unfortunately, she recalled that she was having sex as a female in the dream, with Nabiki and Akane in the male roles! Whether she enjoyed the dream at the time was irrelevant in Ryo-chan's mind. It was making her sick to her stomach now, as she remembered it! She ran off to the toilet to throw up, but only produced dry heaves.  
Nabiki just wondered what that was all about, and continued to get dressed.  
  
Giving up on trying to puke her guts out, Ryo-chan went to the furo to clean up. Once she was done though, she realized that she had neglected to attend morning practice with her brother and father, and felt worse. She practically lived for those sessions ever since Jusenkyo, as practicing the art of the Anything Goes School was one of the few things she had left of her self-image. This was just horrible! She started to cry uncontrollably, collapsing to her knees and sobbing into her hands.  
By the time she gathered herself together, Ryo-chan found that she had missed breakfast as well, and only had time to hurriedly get dressed before leaving for school. Halfway there, she realized that she had forgotten to grab her lunch, and had neglected to bring any money with which to buy one. This promised to be a hungry day.  
  
The crowd of boys that attacked Akane every morning was plowed over faster than usual as Ryo-chan aided Akane. She had done so primarily to work out her own frustrations, but Akane was mad at her again (this time for interfering without being asked to do so). Kuno was impressed with the beauty of their attacks, even the snap-kick that Ryo-chan knocked him out with on her way past him.  
  
Ryo-chan found herself holding buckets in the hall during most of her classes, but not for being late, nor for not wearing a uniform (she was on time and was wearing the school uniform). She ended up pulling bucket duty because she kept forgetting that she was wearing a skirt once class was underway. As soon as she did, she would unconsciously draw her legs up onto the chair and cross them Indian style. Since she had been warned about not doing this yesterday, she was probably lucky that she didn't get detention. But she was still stuck in the hall holding buckets during most of her classes.  
  
Ryo-chan ended up wishing that she had pulled bucket duty during gym. Oh, it started well enough. Changing into her gym clothes was less nerve-wracking than it had been yesterday, since she was pretty sure that Akane wasn't going to clobber her now. She gave up on the sports bra as a lost cause after sending it across the locker room for the fifth time while trying to put it on. Nobody said anything about it though. Some of them remembered doing the same thing when they were learning how to wear a bra, although 'Ryoko' seemed to be able to get extra distance for some reason.  
The girls were playing softball today, and she was managing to loose herself in the game and forget the day's worries. That is, until she had hit that wild foul that went straight to where her brother, Ranma, had been sitting talking with some of his own classmates. The ball hit him in the side of his face with enough force to knock him over and leave a mark.  
"Oh no!" cried Ryo-chan as she ran over to her brother, forgetting the game in her concern. "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry! Are you okay? Did I hit you too hard? It was an accident! I didn't mean to! WAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!"  
"Ah...err...oh man, Ryo-chan! Don't cry! The ball didn't hit me that hard!" said Ranma, trying to comfort his distraught 'sister' (and trying to ignore the pain as his cheek swelled from the bruise).  
"WAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!" Ryo-chan continued sobbing. It took pretty much the rest of the period to calm her down again. She was still upset enough by the time she was in the showers, that she barely even noticed the abundance of nude kawai girls who were still trying to comfort her (including Akane)!  
  
Home Economics was a personal disaster for Ryo-chan. The teacher, seeing how upset 'Ryoko' already was, decided to give the poor girl a break from knitting. She thought that perhaps the new girl would be better at another skill...like sewing. Ryo-chan had jumped at the chance to prove herself and to prove her brother wrong. Unfortunately for her, Ranma had hit the nail on the head when he made those comments about her sewing skills yesterday.  
Ryo-chan, while she did indeed have as deft a hand at sewing as she had claimed (nice, neat, sturdy stitches), was unusually prone toward accidentally attaching unrelated items to whatever she was working on. Her projects, big or small, hand sewn or machine sewn, had all ended up attached to unrelated items. And since the stitches were so sturdy, trying to separate these unintended inclusions tended to destroy either her project or the items in question.  
By the time class was over, her skirt and blouse were riddled with small rips and tears. She had even had to strip down to her socks once, because she had inadvertently sewn through several layers of fabric and attached every other piece of clothing she was wearing to her project. The teacher had taken her into a back room with Akane to try and help her remove the stitches without causing any more damage or embarrassment, but Ryo-chan was till embarrassed to have to try to cut the stitches while wearing only her socks. Exactly how she had joined everything at the crotch without sticking herself was beyond any of them, but 'Ryoko' had done exactly that. Unfortunately, they were not able to save her panties, so she went without them for the rest of the school day.  
Fortunately, after this, the fact that she was wearing a skirt was well hammered into her head, and she didn't try to cross her legs for the rest of the school day. Unfortunately, rumor had gotten out about how she had lost her panties, so a lot of boys spent time trying to sneak a peek up her skirt. The sounds of thumping that followed Ryo-chan were either boys feinting from hormonal overload after successful peeks, or boys being clobbered by Ryo-chan (and/or other girls) when they were caught. Despite this, there were many happy boys.  
  
After school, Kuno had tried to challenge Ranma again, but Ryo-chan clocked him on the grounds that she was taking her brother straight to Dr. Tofu's clinic to get his bruise checked out. Kuno grabbed wildly for support as he fell, but whatever he had grabbed had torn away from its support, so he hit the ground anyway.  
Ryo-chan spent a moment in shock. There was Kuno, on the ground, holding the tattered remains of her school uniform. The rips and tears that her clothes had received during her failed attempts at sewing had weakened the fabric considerably. She was now wearing only her socks and shoes, while Kuno was staring up at her from where he lay. She was NAKED out in the street, where everyone could see her! She was embarrassed! She was humiliated! She was...she was...LIVID!  
Kuno only had a brief moment to marvel at the splendor of his pigtailed goddess's nude body before she started to pummel him into unconsciousness. [Such beauty!] Truth to tell, he barely felt the beating that he was receiving from the furious Ryo-chan, such was the distraction of her nubile form graced only by the air around her! He was in a state of bliss when he finally passed out from the repeated blows she was inflicting on him.  
Ranma handed over his uniform shirt and jacket to his 'sister' when she got up off of Kuno (causing more that a few girls to sigh in admiration of his bare torso - and several boys to sigh in disappointment at 'Ryoko' covering up again). She put on the shirt and wrapped the jacket around her waist, and then ran all the way back to the Tendo's, crying tears of humiliation. Ranma and Akane kept pace, leaving Nabiki behind.  
While Nabiki wasn't out of shape, she knew she was still nowhere even close to being able to keep pace with her sister or the Saotome twins, so she didn't even try. She just stepped on the prone body of Kuno and continued on her way. [Ryo-chan will probably be happy for the chance to pound on Kuno again. I'd better make sure she gets the challenge letter that Kuno wrote for her.] Kuno had given her the letter to give to 'Ryoko' earlier in the day, and she had been about to do so when Kuno had challenged Ranma again. She assumed that it was a challenge letter because Kuno was a sore looser and probably wanted revenge for his honor or something like that.  
Nabiki was rarely wrong, but this time she was very mistaken!  
  
Akane, in an attempt to cheer Ryo-chan up, had talked the neo-girl into trying on some makeup and a pretty sun dress. Although Ryo-chan wouldn't have ordinarily done anything of the sort, she had been having an awful day and was willing to give anything a shot. Surprisingly, she really was feeling a bit better when Akane was done applying the makeover, and actually went downstairs with Akane to show off the new look. The Tendos made nice comments, even Nabiki (who had just come in the door). Ranma was stunned to see his 'sister' wearing makeup and a pretty dress but she did look good, and knowing how rough a day she had been having, just nodded in agreement with the Tendos. And Genma...  
Genma yelled at Ryo-chan for putting on makeup, a pretty dress, and generally acting like a girl. As Ryo-chan broke down in tears once again, Soun was about to banish his friend from the house for the evening. He didn't have to. Genma was already running through the neighborhood like a scared rabbit with Ranma and Akane hot on his heels.  
Nabiki thought that this would be a good time to give Ryo-chan the letter from Kuno.  
  
Ryo-chan was grateful to have another chance at pounding Kuno! The letter had said to come alone to meet him in the second field of Furinkan High School at six in the evening. She wore one of the Chinese fighting outfits she had purchased in inspiration from Xian Pu's fighting attire. It was sturdy, wouldn't rip or tear easily, and looked good on her. She did some light katas to stretch her muscles before Kuno arrived.  
Ryo-chan was beginning to wonder if he was actually going to show up, or if he had decided that he had had enough when she had pounded on him earlier, when she heard his characteristic poorly quoted poetry approaching.  
"The time is now six forty-five precisely, the moment when the sunset is at its most beautiful," Kuno stated in what he considered a romantic tone. It may well have indeed been a romantic tone, but 'Ryoko' didn't pick up the inference yet.   
"Whatever you say," said a somewhat irritated Ryo-chan. She just wondered what the sunset had to do with anything. Besides, she would have picked a different time and place to try to catch the sunset at its most beautiful. Living on the road had allowed her to see many sunsets from many different vantagepoints. "So, where's your boken?"  
"I will not need it."  
"Pretty confident, aren't you?"  
"Confident enough," said Kuno, reaching behind his back, "to give you this!" With that, he whipped an object at Ryo-chan, who caught it. It was a bouquet of roses. Ryo-chan started to have a really bad feeling about the direction this encounter was going.  
"It is I, the rising star of the kendo club who stands before you now. Often called the 'Blue Thunder' of Furinkan High. Tatewaki Kuno, age seventeen." Ryo-chan had heard all this yesterday morning of course, but in less romantic tones. She really didn't like where this was going! "I love you, Ryoko Saotome. I would date with you."  
Ryo-chan sat down, stunned, as Kuno wandered away. As the wind blew through her hair picturesquely, and the sunset continued in all of its beautiful glory, she just sat there in silence, holding the roses he had given her. After a while, with Kuno long gone, she got up, discarded the roses, and started for home herself.  
  
Genma arrived at home much later, using a stick as a kind of crutch and looking like he had been beaten rather badly. Ranma and Akane just looked up from where they had been sharing some tea in front of the television and glared at him. Saying nothing, he hung his head and headed for the furo. Alone once more, Ranma and Akane went back to talking about the finer points of the combat techniques that they had used on Mr. Saotome earlier, with Ranma paying particular attention to Akane's discussion on the use and application of mallets and other blunt objects.  
Ryo-chan arrived shortly thereafter, looking even more depressed than before.  
  
After finishing her piled up schoolwork that evening, Ryo-chan took a bath and then turned in early. She had more disturbing dreams again, more like nightmares really, where she was once again having sex as a female. What made it infinitely worse was the fact that the male role wasn't filled by anyone she even liked. It was Kuno, saying the words "I love you. I would date with you," all night long.  
  
Ryo-chan woke up in the morning with a sheen of sweat; feeling nauseous and somewhat bloated. She rushed straight for the toilet, taking care of the bloated feeling first. It was with some shock that she realized that she had just let loose a lot of blood. She was menstruating, just as Dr. Tofu and the Tendo sisters had warned her she would. In the back of her mind, she had not believed them. She wasn't a real girl, so why would she even have a period? But here...here was incontrovertible proof that she was indeed a true girl in every important detail. Her self-image took another massive blow, and she started to dry heave again.  
When she was done unsuccessfully trying to puke her guts out for the second morning in a row, Ryo-chan got up. She drew in a big breath of air...and screamed. A primal, gut-wrenching, ear-piercing scream that could be heard throughout the house. "MY LIFE IS HELL!"  
The rest of the household, hearing that, decided that it would be a good idea if Ryo-chan stayed home that day.  
  
  
END CHAPTER FOUR  
  
OMAKE THEATER PRESENTS: I Would Date With You  
  
The couple sat at a booth in an ice cream parlor, having just finished watching a romantic samurai movie. The man looked to be a senior in high school or possibly a young college student, while the girl was a short, kawai redhead who was probably still in high school.  
"I'm really glad you asked me out, sempai Kuno," said Ryo-chan dreamily. "I'd been having such a horrible day."  
  
END  
  
NEXT CHAPTER: Ryoga is Ryo's best friend...and Ranma's Rival? My Lost Friend 


End file.
